This invention relates to article handling apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for handling long, flexible material such as wire.
When flexible material is automatically cut to a pre-set length on a machine, the material is linearly removed from a spool or supply and automatically fed past the cutter to this pre-set length. All known machines for this purpose either do not support the pre-set length of material beyond the cutter, or they use a two piece (split) tray to support the pre-set length of material before it is cut. Both systems are satisfactory as long as the cut material is relatively short in length. As the length of cut material is increased the tendency for the material to tangle will also increase. Use of a two piece supporting tray does little to alleviate this problem. There are two reasons for this. First, as the length of a two piece tray increases to permit longer cut material, uneven gaps materialize in the supporting tray due to usage, handling and/or warpage. For some materials, this gap does not affect the material from properly sliding onto the tray. For other materials, the material can get caught in an uneven gap causing the material to "tangle" while sliding onto the tray. Secondly, even though a material may slide properly onto the supporting tray, it often becomes tangled while being cleared from from the machine because it (the material) is only supported until the material is cut. At the moment the material is cut, the tray releases the material, only a portion of which was firmly supported by the tray, but the portion going to the cutter was not supported thus the material is being released or cleared from the machine from an unbalanced start. That is, when the material is cut and simulataneously released, the portion that is supported by the tray wants to fall at a uniform rate (gravity), but the unsupported portion going to the cutter causes the material to twist resulting in a non-uniform rate of fall for the entire length of the cut material resulting in "tangling".
In addition, these two piece piece supporting trays require additional floor space and cannot be disengaged when not being used.